Snow
by Psiakrewkretynie
Summary: The time when Leonardo losts his way in the mountains, Zo is not really helping and Riario is (of course!) following them. Set somewhere before season 2. No big spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

My each step meant another contact with the snow. And every time my boots met with the ground there was a loud noise.

Creak creak creak.

Damn with all attempts to move soundless. I just walked normally, pulling my hood deeper and deeper on my forehead, trying to protect my face from the chilly wind.

Of course it didn't really work. I was getting colder and colder. And, though I wouldn't admit it aloud, scared. The though of freezing to death alone drove me to panic, almost insanity.

I was slowly losing my touch. There was nothing there to use to my defence, not a chance to build anything. My bag was somewhere in the bottom of a frozen river and who knew where Zo was. Maybe he wasn't anywhere anymore and that would be my fault, my fault, my fault. I couldn't bear that though.

I tried desperately to force myself to push forward- but my legs were already trembling and I was suffocating. I needed air so much yet I just couldn't breath. The cold air made me shiver despite warm clothes that I had been wearing.

I know that the trace I was leaving couldn't be more visible but I didn't even try to cover it up. It was hopeless and I would only lose energy. There was no way to walk on that fucking snow without leaving footprints in it.

He was following. I know he was- he told me he would and he kept his words. He'd lie to others, but not to me.

I was the Sun and he... He was the Moon. And it was night, dark, his time. Riario was going to catch me soon and there was absolutly nothing I could do to stop him. He knew that, I knew. We both knew.

So now it was a race of some kind. Because he could capture my alive or stumble over my dead body. What would be better? Should I just turn back and shout, hoping that he will hear me and he will be fast enough to... To rescue me?

The image of warm fire, extra clothes, maybe some food and a horse that would spare me from wandering on foot was tempting. Of course there would be consequences- once he captured me, he would never let me go. But I could rest... Sleep. Stop worrying about the cold.

The reality, as always, was far more cruel. I fell down suddenly, stumbling over something that I could not see. I rolled down a little bit, stopping when my back met a tree. I hissed from the pain of that contact and tried to stand up.

I couldn't.

Just couldn't. I had no strenght left and even the will of surviving was leaving me.

I closed my eyes, embracing a numb feeling of not caring anymore. I wasn't even scared- just tired. The last thing I remembered before I lost my consciousness was some distant shouts. 

_[Some time before]_

"Are you sure?" Zoro frowned, looking around. "We're in a bloody middle of nowhere, you know. There's no way someone lives there."

I was lost in thoughts but heard him anyway. I sighed a little. I was exhausted anyway, dealing with his complains weren't going to help me. We probably should take the rest, our horses were tired and so did we. But I didn't want to stop just then.

"The signs are clear." I casted a quick look in his way, almost daring him to argue. I wasn't so sure myself if I had chosen a right directions.

"You mean the fucking Turk told you that?' he raised his eyebrows. I stared at him, without a word. The silence only made him sure. "You need to stop following him like a dog, Leo. You aren't his bitch, are you? ... If he exist, I mean."

He wanted to make me mad, then cool down and rethink that matter. He succeeded in his first task, because the anger filled me. But I swallowed down an annoyed retort. He was right, a little bit. And I didn't want to start a shouting contest just there. I had heard stories about avalanches in this mountains caused by dumb people who couldn't shut their mouths. Not my ambition to join them.

"You've seen him once, remember?" anger was gone as fast as I returned my thoughts on the view in front of us. My fingers began to twitch, dance in the air. I wanted to draw what I saw there. The trees were diffrent, not so high but stronger than the one that you could find near Florence. There was a lot more green there, too. Only then I noticed that there was not so much time left to the twilight.

"You mean that tavern where you got into someone else's fight?" he laughed, without much joy in his voice. "He was there, yes. But then he was gone and you started getting crazier and crazier."

"He's real, Zoro. I'm sure. Anyway, you will see snow," I changed the subject, forcing my horse to go faster. "First time in your miserable life. Aren't you excited?"

"I like things wet, but I'm afraid cold is not a best feature." I rolled my eyes after I heard that comment. Of course he would say something like that. "But poor Nico will be disapointed. We are traveling, exhausting our asses and he has to stay in Florence..."

I nodded my head slightly. Andrea got sick and there was no one who could take care of him. Nico agreed to do just that but he was probably angry at us for going out of the city without him. No matter, I was going to make it up for him after our return.

"I though you were happy to leave him behind, out of our trouble."

The sun was slowly heading down. It was bad, very bad. We hadn't got as far as I wished we would that day. Obviously, we couldn't continue on our journey in the dark. Zo or one of the horses would probably stumble over some root and break their legs, slowing us even more.

"I was." He smirked a little. Finally he stopped frowning over everything. "But now I'm not so damn sure. If I am to freeze here, he could at least join me."

"It's not that cold." I reached for my bag but didn't take anything out of it. I had to force myself not to grab some paper and charcoal to draw. "Yet."

"It's fucking cold, Leo." He looked up to the sky. "And it's going to rain soon. We will catch some disease and die."

We had to stop, I knew. I narrowed my eyes, trying to spot a good place to sleep.

"It will only get colder." I felt almost bad for dragging him behind me. "If you're such a delicate princess, maybe you should head back now?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he sended me an offended glare. I turned a little, so he didn't see my smile. "No way I am leaving you alone there. I'm damn sure you'd hurt yourself in less than one hour."

I opened my mouth, but an answer to his words never came. A long, lonely howl sounded somewhere in the distance. I blinked rapidly.

"A wolf," I guessed. I saw Zo twitching as we stopped our horses.

"Bloody fantastic," he mumbled. "Should I start my confession now?"

I considered our options, looking around. The animal (most probably a whole pack of them) wasn't near. But it could move fast and catch us. Depending on exactly how much of them were there we could or could not fight them. But it was a great risk anyway. Especially if they would attact when the night fell.

"Grab dry sticks and dead leaves, everything to make a fire." I jumped down to the ground and tied my horse to a tree. "We will make it if we hurry."

"Aye." He joined my search for materials without much heart in it.

After some time we collected enough to make a small fire.

"We need more." I clenched my teeth. It was not enough for a whole night, of that I was sure. I looked at a pile as if I could make it bigger just by glaring at it.

He patted me on the shoulder in a protective way. He probably just wanted to clean his hands, all this sticks were so dirty.

"You prepare the bonfire, I will take care of this shit." His lips twisted in a smile but his eyes told me to focus. "Just... Don't kill us, will you?"

And off he went. I crouched and started doing my job. There wasn't much work but I hurried anyway. I wanted to find some time to draw a little. Maybe a sketch of Zo collecting dry leaves? ... Leaves. Book of Leaves. Fuck, all my thoughts leaded to that thing. Maybe it was not worth it? I had doubts, yes, but I couldn't stop searching for it. I needed it. All I had to do to try a little bit.

That particular journey wasn't about it, not directly. The Turk told me that in that mountains lived someone who knew my mother. My mother, which face I'd forgotten. I needed to find her even more than the Book. I was longing for her, hoping that she was a better person that my father. That she could help me.

Zoro tossed some more materials on the ground and checked the horses. They were snorting and struggling, trying to get free from their bridles. The fact they were so nervous didn't really help to create nice atmosphere. Zo sat next to me and we waited in silence. The sun almost disappeared by this time. There was no way I could draw.

The howls sounded again, this time there were more of them and they were closer.

"We will be fine." I noticed how tensed he was.

"Aren't we going to set up a camp?" he shivered a little, again. It was indeed getting colder. "You know, we could use some warm..."

I sighed a little bit and leaned forward to finally light the fire. The flames began to dance and fight the darkness.

"We can, if you want some fucking wolves to eat our blankets." I got up on my feet and went to the horses. I looked up on the tree and sigh. "We could climb up them. Then they would be hopeless."

"We would lose our mounts," he pointed out, raising his hands to warm them a little bit. "And then how do you imagine going forth? Or back? Fuck, Leo, that's not an option."

I took the bags from the saddles and throw them on one of the branches. I patted my horse, hoping they were close enough to the fire.

"We may not have a choice." I tried to calm the poor animals down, but they just wouldn't stop neighing. "I will sit with them. You climb up on that tree."

"What?! No fucking way!" he got up quickly, clenching his fists. There was some very close howl. I hit him right in his chest. He was a little bit stronger than me but stumbled back anyway.

"Now!"

He looked at me, worried, but finally completed what I said. Few seconds and he was high above the ground, safe and sound.

Just in time. A big shape jumped of the bush. I couldn't see it very well- it was too dark. But its yellow eyes were glowing, fire reflecting in it. The horses had gone mad but they were tied well. Or I hoped so. I picked up a burning stick and waited, cursing myself for not taking a bow with me. I heard a loud growl. They weren't even trying to be quiet.

"I can see five- no, six! - of these fuckers," said Zoro. He really have a good sight then. I barely saw anything apart from the bonfire and the horses. "They are circling you around. You should come up there..."

That was going to be a long, painful night.

They were scared of fire and not hungry enough to risk getting hurt. That was a good thing but I didn't know how long would that last and if they would give back in the morning. I tried to focus on anything else but I was counting our chances, calculating the strenght of their jaws and the speed they could run.

"Leo!" Zoro yelped suddenly. I guess that shout saved my life in a way. I got so caught up in my thoughts I nearly didn't see an attack coming. The wolf was swift, young, brave. Stupid. It jumped out on me with a quiet growl. Instinctively I took a swing with my stick.

I hit it. It whined like a puppy and leapt forward, knocking me down on my back. Fortunatly it didn't stop running and disappeared in the dark. I had some time to sit up and took my weapon before the next attact came.

This time I was fully prepared so I hit the animal without trouble. It ran off too, snarling at me angrily.

My heart was beating fast and my hands were trembling. I found myself unable to ease my rapid breath.

"I'm fucking going down!" there was some noise as he moved on his brench.

"No!" there was desperation in my voice and I knew it. "The last thing I need now is to have to worry about you too!"

As I had time to argue with him! The fire was slowly burning down so I had to rake in it a little bit. Of course another stupid fucker had to jump then. I flung myself on the ground, almost not making it. The wolf landed directly in the bonfire.

Sparks went flying from the fire as the animal howled in utter horror. It tried to get out but ended up falling down. I didn't waste my time. I picked a dagger from my pocket and stabbed it in his head. There was blood. I laughed hysterically as the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

"Oh my God, Leo." Zoro was even more scared than I was.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I barked out with some problems.

The attacks stopped then. The wolves were there, but didn't dare to mess with me anymore. I had even harder time keeping the fire, since the dead wolf was lying in the middle of it. But it was a moment of peace and I could rest a little bit. Put the blade out. Calm down.

And then it started to rain.

First raindrops were shy and didn't really do that much damage. But I know straight away what they meant. The plants were going to get something to drink. We and our things were going to get wet. But, maybe most importantly, the fire was going to dissapear in seconds.

"Leo...?!"

I jumped on my feet, a dagger in my hand. I cutted the ties that was keeping the horses in place. I wanted to give them some chance, small or not. And then I was racing to the tree as the rain became heavy. I didn't even reach my destination and the bonfire had already been gone.

I leaped for the tree, almost missing it. It was a matter of seconds though- they were going to attack me soon. In that very moment. My hands tighten around the trunk as I tried to find a place to put my feet. Zo was shouting hopelessly on the tree.

I shouted too- a little bit- when I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I kicked hard with my free foot, hitting something soft. There was a loud crack, a yelp and then there were hands all over my shoulders, pushing me up, away from the wolves.

Zoro hugged me. I snuggled in his chest, not carying about anything anymore. We were both soaked now.

"It's good, this branch is able to hold us both," I mumbled, laughing a little bit. Damn, I was so lucky that my boots were so thick. They took most of the impact.

"You're so messed up, Leo." He giggled as helet me go and tied me to the tree with a rope. "Now you won't fall down. How's your leg?"

We both ignored the neighing of our horses, so full of terror. They were probably being torn apart now. The wolves were howling almost happily and I felt sick.

"It's fine, I guess," I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm gonna live. And walk straight"

He sighed quietly, but we were sitting so close that I heard it without a problem.

"Now we are damned."

"Let's get some sleep, shall we?" I tried to sound brave and calm but most probably failed.

It was hard to fall asleep on a tree, trembling from the wet and all the sounds of horror that we were hearing

But I'd always had problems with sleeping so it didn't really matter to me.

"You look like a ghost, Leo." Zoro pressed his lips in annoyance. I rubbed my eyes and yawned a little bit. "You should eat some of this meat. Damn with your vegetarianism, those few nuts won't give you enough energy."

Yes, he was right. I was still very hungry, my stomach was rumbling. Eventhough I tried to focus on my foot, checking if it was alright, I couldn't really think about anything else than food.

It wasn't really the meat itself- I had eaten it when I didn't have any other choice. I just wouldn't be able to force myself to swallow the wolf that I had killed. Some of its body wasn't completly burned so I cutted a good pieces and gave them to Zoro. I felt like vomiting through and I didn't really know why.

It wasn't like I had never seen a body that badly damaged.

"Leo!"

I realized that I was staring into space with blank expression on my face.

"What?!" I shot back, squinting my eyes. I guess I was a little bit too loud. "I'm trying to think here!"

"Did you hear that?" he raised to his feet, looking around. I closed my mouth and listen. There it was! In distance, sound of hoofbeats. He turned to face me, excited smile on his lips. "Maybe we are not as dead as I thought!"

I calculated that there were at least four of the horses. Somebody was, without a doubt, riding them. Somebody armed and in hurry. I doubted that they had good intention. They were probably some bandits who would happily kill us. Because really, no one would chose this route by accident. It was just too dangereus and didn't lead anywhere.

As Zoro said, we were in the fucking middle of nowhere. Far, far away from civilization.

"Hurry." I quickly extinguished the fire, grabbed my things and forced Zo to hide in some bush near the way.

"What?" he hissed, trying to stand up. I didn't let him, wraping my arm around his waist and pushing him down.

"Shhhh." The ground was cold and wet. I shivered a little bit but then held still. I hoped the shrubs were thick enough to hide us. I didn't see anything anymore so maybe yes.

The hoofbeats came closer and then, suddendly, stopped. Zoro tried to raise his head but, again, I prevented it.

"The fucking wolves got them," we heard. I blinked. Was someone following us or what? "They are really beast, good you shot them down."

"It's not good at all!" argued another voice, obviously nervous. "He will be furious when he finds out! We were supposed to bring that Florentine runt alive. We will as dead as they are in no time!"

"Are you scared of our little Count?" mocked the first voice but I didn't really pay attention to their bickering anymore. Only one word mattered.

Count. Who could they adress that way? Ha ha ha! Count Girolamo fucking Riario.

But just how exactly he found me that quickly? Few people knew where I had gone. And that included Nico, Andrea and Lucrecia, who would never betrayed me like that. It was possible that someone followed us from the city gates up to here but not likely. They wouldn't let us go that far. They would caugh us earlier so they would not have to go that far.

"Shut the fuck up," someone else said. He sounded more intelligent than the other two. "That bonfire is still fresh and it has just stopped raining. So they had to survive the night."

I cursed under my breath. We were so cold that we just couldn't help lighting a small fire, eventhough it was hard to find dry materials to do so. And now that gave us away.

I was curious- what would Riario do if he learned that I was dead? Believed that? Kept searching, knowing that I wouldn't let something like that kill me off?

"So they must be on track again!" there were some excited murmurs. Idiots. "We must hurry or they will go too far."

"Don't be absurd. They have lost their horses. They will wander on foot now." I could imagine his eyes checking the surroundings. "They are probably somewhere near."

Fuck. The guy wasn't as dumb as a common highwayman.

Zoro looked at me, unspoken question in his eyes.

"We steal their horses," I whispered to him. "And run as the devil himself is following us."

"He is, isn't he?"

I smiled a little, couldn't help it.

With a small hand gesture I instructed him to stay low and carefully raised my head over the branches. I immediately spotted one horse tied to a tree not so far away from us. There was one huge man standing next to him, raking in the bonfire. Others hadn't jumped down on the ground. I counted them- six in general, a little bit too much for us to take. One was so close that I though he would notice my head but he had his back turned on us.

I lowered myself again.

"One horse is tied to the tree where we hided." I tried to kept my voice as low as possible so I had to basicly touch his ear with my mouth so he would understand everything. He flinched a little bit. "Six people. Big, armed. One will discover us in seconds."

"Get the horse," he answered, reaching for his sword.

I didn't like this plan- I was the one to plan here!- but the time was running out and I couldn't really think about anything else. Anything better.

Riario wanted me alive but I wasn't so sure about Zoro. But they probably weren't able to recognise us, anyway. So we were both safe now.

I didn't expect my companion to do something as stupid as he did. He jumped out of the bushes and started running. Running in direction opposed to them, shouting. I cursed him under my breath.

And I was the one supposed to be mad! We had no chance on winning that.

I waited for a few were some shouts and hoofbeats. I hesitated for a moment. That didn't make any sense at all! But... I guess that's how he felt everytime I did something stupid without a word of explanation.

And I did trust Zo, didn't I?

I leaped out of my hiding spot and rushed to the free horse. Of course it would be too beautiful just to be able to jump on it and go help my friend.

The man I spotted before was still standing next to the bonfire. He noticed me straight away and he reached for his weapon. But it was just one person, I could handle it...

At least I hoped so when I took a first swing with my sword. He blocked it easily. Strength that he used forced me to take a step back. He moved, began to circle me. I smiled a little bit, just to tell him I wasn't scared of him. He laughed.

I couldn't just play with him, spend a whole day there. Zo needed aid. So I attacked him again, this time trying to land a powerful blow on his right hip. He parried it and made a quick counter. I jumped out of the way of his blade.

He wasn't that bad himself- but I was swifter than him. So the key (Key, ha ha ha) to win this battle was speed no strenght.

I faked an attack on his left side. He moved to blocked it so he missed the real hit - one that stab him through the flesh of his right leg. He screamed like a girl and fell down. Easy. After all he was just a bandit.

The rest of the band came back just in time to see me jumping to him, wraping my arm around his shoulders and pressing my blade to his neck. Of course they were leading Zoro with them. He was bound by his wrist, nothing that he couldn't free himself from given some time. He smirked at me.

"Give up or I will kill him," threatened the one holding him. The situation was very similar to one that we handled few years ago. Zo also got caught like that and I was told to surrender.

I did. We landed in prison for some time. But here the circumstances were diffrent. Back then they wouldn't hesitate.

"Give up or I will kim him," I repeated after him, holding my victim even tighter. He hissed a little bit.

"We don't care about him!"

How lovely. They were probably just faking it. Or not. Maybe they wanted me to murder him finally and allow them to beat me up.

"But you do care about us, don't you?" I raised one eyebrow. "After all you don't really know which of us is Da Vinci, do you?"

"Maybe you will end up killing the artist?" added Zoroaster. He was already working on freeing himself from the bonds. "What do you think he will fucking do if you bring his worthless companion to him instead of the real target?"

I could see how their jaws clenched as they realised that we were right. And they had to think of different way to defeat us. Thinking was undoubtedly hard for them, idiots. I relaxed just a little bit.

My hostage striked me with his elbow, hitting me straight in my chest. I really should see that coming. I stumbled back, all of the sudden losing my breath. He jumped on me, knocking me down on the ground, not caring about his leg. I stab him but it doesn't really matter anymore. His body held me still anyway.

A hard kick landed on my hip, preventing me from standing up. I hissed in pain, trying to roll away quickly just to get stepped on.

Then came another blows- not hard enough to damage me to badly but not nice too. I held still so they would see that I am not struggling anymore and they can fucking stop.

They raised me to feet and reached to bind me. I could see two of them close to me. There weren't on their horses anymore. One was dead and two were probably taking care of my friend. Bastard.

I heard Zoro's roar. I hoped it was because he had just broken free.

I kicked the one who was trying to use rope on me straight in his stomach and send him backward. I turned just in time to caught a blow of the other one. I hit his jaw with my head and ran away from them. The fucking fight was getting ridiculous. I had to remember never let Zo command again.

We were lucky that they were shitty fighters.

I jumped on the closest horse, urged him to go fast and led it to them. They moved out the way as I galloped to rescue Zo.

Only he didn't really need that. He did even better job than I. His opponent was lying in the ground, unconscious and he managed to get himself a horse too. And to take our bags that we left- I didn't even know when exactly.

"One of the fuckers had gotten away," he cursed as we reached the trail again.

I bared my teeth angrily. We were moving fast but the two that I did not kill had already started chasing us. And somewhere there was Riario, waiting and laughing like a madman... Maybe not.

"We will be fine." I shaked head.

"You say that a lot!"

"And we always are!"

There were a lot of trees there so I didn't really see our surroundings. But suddenly the forest thinned out a little bit- probably because of a crossroad in front of us.

Three ways crossed there. One, from which we just arrived. One that we had to head to. And one from where another gang appeared.

"Artista," said the men in the front. I recognized him immediatly. After all it was hard to forget that voice, that black hair, eyes dark as night and a twisted smirk on his lips.

"Count," I answered, as always faking politeness.

We could try to rush, hoping to reach our destination without them catching us. But it was impossible. So I turned around and forced my horse to vanish among the trees. Zo followed, of course.

One should never leave the trail. Mountains were too dangerous.

"You won't get away!" Riario usually spoke quietly, but he was able to shout very loud when he wanted.

Could that situtation get even more fucked up?

Obviously.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for your comments 3 They mean a lot to me!**

**Still not much Riario in this one, but I'll try to change that in the next chapter.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

It's unwise and dangerous to be on horse while it is galloping through the forest without a track. Leaves were hitting our shoulders, bruising and cutting. I could very well imagine what would happen if we hit some branch with a speed like that- the impact could kill, leaving us headless.

So we had to get down and ran. It wasn't much better, though. The bushes were thick and there were roots everywhere. I was so happy that the wolf from the day before hadn't bite my leg off- then escaping would prove to be really, really difficult.

"Fuck, Leo!" Zo was panting heavily, trying to keep on with me. Oh, yes, he had been carrying our bags so it was even harder for him

"The devil you've spoken about is behind us," I reminded. My hands were trembling a little bit. We knew very well that they were chasing us. The only hope was that we would lose them in that God's forsaken place.

"Right." He got all his strenght back and suddenly he was ahead of me. It was funny but I didn't laugh.

On the track I hadn't really been thinking about being in mountains. The track so far wasn't that bad- the way was rather flat, going up only slightly. But when we left it, the situation changed. And we learned it the hard way.

In one second we were just running. Then Zoro shouted and fell. I though he stumbled over something but as I got closer I noticed my mistake. It was the ground. There was some kind of small precipice, which was hard to noticed because of the fucking trees. I saw his body rolling down and then stopping in some bushes.

Ouch.

"Zo?!" I raised my voice a little, looking back nervously. But nobody jumped on us yet.

"Feeling damn fantastic!" came his sarcastic response. I sighed with relief. He started to move and used the tree to stand up. My turn.

"Coming!" I tried to be more careful, placing my feet where it looked safe. But the gravel was deceptive and I found myself falling too. That was painful and I might had yelped a little bit. But then I immediately raised from the hard ground. We ran again, but this time we were more careful.

"I really hope he will think we weren't crazy enought to go down that shit."It seemed Zoro was feeling good. He started complaining so he was fine.

"Oh, he won't," I mumbled. "We must stop running like that. It won't help us."

"If we stop, he will catch us." But he halted anyway. He was breathing as heavily as I was. We couldn't continue on like this.

"If we run without thinking, we will die." They didn't know in which direction we would go and that was our only advantage. I chose to turn right and began walking, looking around very closely. "We must leave some false footprints and then go back to the road."

"You think he will be so dumb and fell for it?" he barked a quick laught. He hated that man so much but knew he was not stupid.

"No. But it will buy us some time." I looked up to the sky. It was not that late but we had wasted so much of the daylight anyway. "Come on."

"Leo...?" he tilted his head, looking up.

"What?"

"Is it snowing?"

Then I noticed it- white flakes falling down from the sky. Most of them were stopped by treetops but some managed to get down to us. I stopped, stretching out my hand. One of them landed on my palm. It melted so fast, tuned into cold water.

"Yeah. But it's not freezing enough so it will dissapear soon." I threw my arms up in the sky and laughed aloud.

"Stop that, Leo." He looked around, probably expecting someone to attack as now. I knew he was right but it was just so exciting I couldn't help myself! I wanted to learn more about the snow, touch it, feel it on my skin and then examine it. I wanted to just watch and draw it. I didn't fell exhausted or hungry anymore- all I was thinking about was the new phenomenon.

Of course it was stupid and unreasonable but hey, I got distracted easily! Zo had to push me forward to make me walk.

And then we heard sticks cracking and leaves shuffling. Somebody was going in our direction and knew nothing about walking soundlessly. I puffed angrily. The guy, whoever he was, dared to keep me away from my studies. He was asking for getting beat up. If it wasn't for Zoro, I would probably stand there and fight him.

It was my friend's turn to hide us both under some bush. It was getting frustrating. All we were doing that they was hiding. And runing. And hiding some more.

The noises got even louder.

"It's so easy to track them when they go together."

They obviously didn't see us if they talked so freely while looking for us. Anyway, it was just ridiculous. They wouldn't catch a thing if they act like this on a hunting... Suspiction had began to fill me.

Riario surely had better men on his commend. And he knew with whom he was dealing- he knew catching me wasn't easy at all. So why in the world did he send such a idiots? Did he want to make me so angry that I would reveal myself and demand better treating? I mean, didn't he take me seriously? I felt almost wounded, just like the one time back in Florence when Dragonetti send me away and Lorenzo told me "maybe later" in a tone that suggested "fuck off, runt".

"Yeah, they're dumb, aren't they?" they were getting closer and closer. I tensed, pressing my side to Zo. It was so cold, so hard not to tremble. The warm clothes we had bought were not enough.

Suddenly there were hands that dragged me out and pushed me back to the ground. I didn't really expect that- I thought that they were further from us.

Of course I didn't just lie here like that, waiting. The attacker leaped on me, probably trying to pin me down. Instead of trying to stand up I kicked hard, hitting him on his stomach. Only then I jumped up, realizing that I didn't have my sword with me anymore.

When in the world had I lost it?

That so philosophical question remained without an answer.

The shock of the impact only lasted for few seconds. He took a swing, probably wanting to punch me in my jaw. I blocked it without any trouble and stepped on his foot, hard, on the same time landing a blow on his chest. He stumbled backward, loosing his balance. I laughed, but too fast- he grabbed my wrist and we both fell down.

There was no grace in our fight. We struggled on the wet ground, rolling around like dogs, yelling and practically barking at each other. I got on top of him, preparing to hit him hard on his head and win that.

He gathered his strenght and turned. Suddenly it was I who lied on the bottom. And his fingers were clenched around me neck, suffocating me a little. I tried to kick, hit, but all of that didn't earn me anything. I was losing my breath, to fast, to fast! Had Riario decided to kill me after all?

But then the grip became weaker and the man disappeared from my sight. I chocked as I tried to breath. Somebody helped me to sit and then stand.

"Told you. You should have eaten more." Zoro was staring at me, his eyes wide. I blinked back tears, rubbed my neck and looked around. We were alone in the forest again. Two still bodies lied silently.

"I g-guess I should," I tried to speak normaly but it was difficult. My throat ached. "Those assholes... They were acting from the beggining. One of them was acting loudly to make us comfortable and the other lunged on us...Should have seen that coming, fuck!"

I buried my face in hands. He giggled quietly. Like there was something funny in that situation.

"It's snowing heavier." He patted me on a shoulder. "You know, we may even be able to hide in the storm..."

I looked up. It was good, yes. But also bad.

Riario was going to look for us- for me - even more desperately. He probably knew that we rather freeze in cold than let him capture us. And he also knew that chances of surviving in situation like that were low, even for me. And he needed me.

"We must hurry anyway." I started walking and almost fell down immediatly. I had to lean on the nearest tree not to have a meeting with the ground. The world started spinning in front of my eyes but I didn't - couldn't! - allow myself to lose consciousness.

It was easy to forget how tired I was. I didn't have much sleep last nigh and I had to fight a lot. It was natural that I was exhausted now. Especially now, when there was nobody to struggle with.

"Leonardo?" Zoro must have been really worried. He rarely used me full name.

"You were... Right." I forced myself to walk. After all it wasn't that bad, I could make it. The snow was ruthless and cold but I wouln't let it defeat me. "I should have eaten something more."

"I'm always right! Come, we will walk a little bit and then we will stop." He offered me a shoulder so I could lean on him. But I didn't really want that. I still could move on my feet.

The next hour- or something like that- was very long. My head was spinning, my stomach rumbling and legs trembling. I counted my steps.

One, two, three...

"That's seriously fucked up." I laughed. "We are moving so slowly and he didn't catch us yet."

"That's because that forest is so big. They could get lost. Just as us."

... twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two...

"He is so... So... Stupid!" I looked up in the sky. "You hear me, Count? Stupid!"

"You really are tired, are you not?" he frowned.

... two hundred and one...

When I started slipping with every step I took he decided it was enough. He put our bags on the ground and took something out. I sat down without a world, observing him. He gave me something wrapped in a piece of material. I looked at it and blinked.

"You took that wolf with you?" I shaked my head, almost with amusement.

"Just eat it, Leo."

I was to hungry too argue. I bit my teeth into the burned flesh. The taste of meat filled my mouth - as well as sick feeling that I well knew. But I needed it. So hard, so much, oh, this was food. I forced myself to swallow.

I ate a whole bit.

"Oh my-!" I mumbled. I noticed that he was going back and forth, back and forth... "What are you doing?"

Zo grinned at me a little and tossed some sticks on the ground.

"Making a hut. And a fire. Some of the branches aren't that fucking wet, you know. Don't worry," he said but I couldn't stop it. I felt like I should help him a little bit. And it didn't matter that I didn't sleep in two- no, three!- days now.

"Fine." I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around me.

I heard him moving. After all he threw a blanket at me and sat down next to me, hugging me tight. He was warm and the fire he had just made was warm. I felt warm. I couldn't keep my eyes open.

I got some sleep after all.

* * *

"Get up!" a sharp order made me jump a little bit. Since I was practically lying on Zoro it was natural that I end up hitting him and, as a result, waking him. He groaned a little.

Wait. If he wasn't the one speaking, then who...?

"Now!" somebody forced me to stand up. I blinked, trying to look at him, but my vision was blur.

"Riario...?" I tried guessing and almost cursed myself. The man had dark hair, yes, but it definitly wasn't anybody I knew. I would recognize him by a voice. Damn, I was so useless in the mornings. "Who are you?"

That was rather obvious, too. There were a lot of them here, circling us. One, two, three... Ten. All of them had some weapons. They looked dangerous and ready to kill us. Zoro had already raised his hands, declaring his surrender.

Bandits. Hiding in the mountains, knowing its ways like nobody else.

Perfect. We didn't stand a chance against all of them... At least it stopped snowing?

"Shut the fuck up." One of them wasn't in good mood. Asshole punched me for talking. I clinched my mouth. "Check them out."

I had to watch us one of them, a filthy but rather young boy, reached for my bag. He tossed my charcoal - fuck him! - on the ground and looked closely on my notebook. I was sure he wasn't able to read but he seemed interested in it anyway. His fingers danced on the pages, probably touching my sketches...

"Hurry up!"

The boy obeyed without complaining. He gave the bigger man our spare clothes, our water and food. But he had hidden my notebook under his coat.

"Now, now, what shall we do with you?" the leader glanced at us, smiling cruelly. Of course he would kill us. Of course. And not fast, but in slow, painful way. Who the fuck they were, living in mountains and hurting anyone who dared to go there?

"You could kill us." I was not going to plead, not going to beg. It wouldn't work on them anyway and I was too proud for it anyway. "But keeping us alive would benefit you more."

He laughed.

"Because what? You're companion will come and get revenge?" he was amused. Probably he was used to threats by now. But could he held back his greed?

"There are people hunting me." I looked at him with a small grin on my lips. "And they will pay a lot for brining me to them."

He touched his sword in an almost playful manner. I could feel Zoro staring at me and the gang silently watching.

"It's another reason to kill you, so you won't fucking get away." His fingers clinched around the handle.

"But they want me - us - alive. And you are probably thinking: what assurance we have that they won't just kill us?" I was still forcing confident smile, playing the game. He tensed a little bit but then removed his hand from the weapon. He nodded.

"But I'm sure you have a solution for that too, you smart ass."

Good. He was willing to negotiate so it was just a matter of playing it well.

"You can take only me to them." I heard Zoro gasped at my words. I wasn't really happy with that too, but it was an only we had. Once we our out of the bandits hands I could think about a way of escaping Riario's man. "They are searching for us, so it probably won't take you much time to find them. Said that my companion is safe with you, demand money and only then bring him to them."

I didn't want Zo to stay with them because it was very likely that the Count wouldn't pay anything to free him - simply wouldn't care. But the game hadn't ended yet and I was going to win that.

"Ha, you look like a one that would try to outsmart us." He laughed again. Really, try? Did he really think he was intelligent? "Take the Turk to them. You, fucker, will stay here."

Zo sent me an angry glare but I was satisfied. I guessed - hoped - that Riario wouldn't not kill him. He was smart and he knew that with Zo in his hands he could force me do things that I did not want to do.

In other words, I was sending him a perfect key (..Key. Key!) to make me obey.

"As you wish." I didn't look into my friend's eyes. Did he know what I was doing? What I wanted to gain? Or did he feel betrayed?

"I'm not a Turk," Zo said quietly as he was dragged away from us. And towards the devil. Four men were guarding him and he was tied so the chances of escaping were low.

My favourite leader hesitated for awhile. "Paolo, you are in charge. I'm going with them, they are dumb as donkeys, no way they would fucking do it right."

The young boy nodded his head and pointed me to move.

Walking was easier than the day before. In fact, I felt very well. And it wasn't snowing anymore. Probably the weather changed fast in that part of the year.

"Where are we going?" I looked closer at my guard. He was young, maybe sixteen or seventeen. He had dark curly hair and suprisingly inteligent eyes. "And what are you doing here? Aren't you too young to be a bandit?"

He growled.

"Shut up." He pushed me a little so I would go faster.

"Do you like my sketches?"

On of their gang wanted to hit me - for talking to much, why everybody hated it? - but Paolo stopped him. Only raising his hand. Really, he was someone important to them? Was he that strong or maybe he just was a son of their leader?

"They are interesting," he admitted, taking them out. "But I don't think they are the reason the Count of the Holy Roman Church himself is chasing you. Are they?"

I whistled.

"You saw him? Recognized him?" Really, why in the world someone living in the mountains would know him?

"It's not like I was born there." He looked at me with a smirk. "We are moving because Count's people are still searching the area. And we don't want them to find you before they pay, do we?"

I considered shouting for a second. But it couldn't end well so I forced myself not to do it.

"Will you give me to them when they pay?" I was slowly loosing my orientation. I didn't know anymore where we came from.

"No," he smiled at me cruelly, baring his teeth, "of course not."

I heard them laughing and almost slapped myself. Well, I had some time to think of a way to get out of the situation. They kept me alive so they could torture me if what I had said was untrue. Or something like that.

I started looking around. That's when something landed on my face, blinding me completly.

Fuck.

We walked for some time. I couldn't see a thing but I tried to walk straight. I wasn't going to entertain them by falling down too much. That was probably the reason why they blinded me in the first place - the forest was to big for me to remember the path we are going anyway.

It took some time but we finally stopped. Someone placed me next to the tree and tied me to it. I growled at him and he laghed, tripping me up. I landed hard on my ass, on the too cold ground. Of course he didn't even care enough to remove whatever was blocking my sight.

And then I was left alone. I could hear some murmurs in the distant but not the words. I couldn't move and I felt extremly uncomfortable. My fingers danced in the air, longing for a piece of charcoal to draw. The ideas flooded my mind and I wanted to scream, because it was too much of them and I couldn't even let them go.

One, two, three... Getting out. Here. A key. And the Turk. The mysterious land on the west, would a regular ship be able to sail there? Maybe it would be better to fly there, but how many energy would be needed for that? Where was Zo now? Was he save? Oh, it would nice to draw him, he made funny faces when angry...

"Da Vinci."

I flinched. I didn't expect someone to talk to me, not in a quiet way. A whisper, like someone was hiding the fact that he was speaking to me. Why would Paolo do that? His voice was easy to recognize, that for sure.

"What do you want?" I was happy for a chance of drowning out my thoughts.

There was silence for a while. He wasn't sure of what he wanted to say.

"I want to get out of there."

I wished I could see his face in that moment. It was possible that he was just trying to trick me, playing some stupid game to kill time. But he seemed bright enough not to like that kind of life style so maybe...?

"Well, I'm tied to a tree." I should have already started working on that. Was he dissapointed of my lack of resistence? "And am I famous? You know my name."

And I hadn't told him it, had I? I didn't recall a moment like that. So no.

"I need your help," he ignored my words completly. I rised my eyebrows on that, eventhough he could not see it. I could hear a desperation in his voice, like I was his last resort or something. "And you need mine. So, you agree, I help you and you help me, understood?"

Was he trying to tell me what to do?

"I can help myself, thank you." I didn't want to decline his offer completly, but I wanted to see just how much he cared.

"Probably you would get out of the binds. But you are lost and my people will find you eventually," he placed a hand on my shoulder. Oh, how I wished to be able to look!

"And you know this place."

"Exactly. So, yes?"

"Let's start from freeing me from the blindfold," I suggested, smiling. He could not see that but I imagined otherwise.

"Oh, no. Not yet. You see," his grasp tightened, "I've got a plan. All you have to do is trust me. Just do what I say, when I say it."

Yeah. He was very convincing. And eloquent. I wanted to tell him to kiss somebody's ass but he was gone already.

Sitting like this for hours - or what felt like this - made my body ache. I could fill my every bone, every muscle. But the pain wasn't as bad as things that was going on in my head.

The images flowed through my head. There was no escaping them. Was Zo safe?

It was so bad that I almost felt joy when somebody teared off the material, finally allowing me to see. The sun hurt my eyes, so I blinked few time to adjust to the light.

"Seems like you weren't lying, smart ass," the leader said, his ugly face smiling at me. He was leaning over me. I saw a pouch in his hand, probably full of money.

"I'm not a liar." Sometimes it was even true. I grinned at him, not wanting to show how stressed I really was.

Before I had tried to free myself from the bonds despite the young bandit's words, but I couldn't. They surely knew their work.

"Well, we are," he laughed like he was stupid. He reached for his sword. Someone in the background laughed. "And I hate ones like you, so you won't probably see your enemies again."

Yeah, take the florens but kill the artist!

"Wait," interrupted Paolo. He stood close to the man, his hands crossed, wearing a small smile on his lips. "Is it really worth it? We can double the price and just give him away."

The leader laughed.

"Bring the one they truly want and they will kill you without a second though." Well, he had a point. I looked at them closer. When they were standing next to each other I could see some family likeness. They had similar noses.

"They will fucking attack you anyway," I played along. Eventhough it seemed like the perfect plan Paolo had was not so perfect. Not to me, anyway. I wouldn't be suprised if he wanted to make an exchange- give me to Riario if he gets the boy out of mountains.

Surely he knew that wasn't going to work?

"Ha, they will lose!" Whistling sounded somewhere in the distance. Really, what was wrong with them?

"Not if more of them come." Paolo crouched in front of me but his eyes kept fixed on the man he was talking to. "And it's not like that fucker is worth it."

"You dare to question my words?"

"Yes, I do."

Ouch. Was it going to turn violent? Was he going to beat him now? Was that the reason why Paolo wanted to run away? If I was in similar possiton I would flee from my perfect father.

Burst of laugher wasn't what I expected. But the leader seemed really amused.

"You have balls, son!" he patted him on the shoulder. The young one smiled. "As you wish. Take some men with you and off you go. But don't complain if they bit your head off!"

They forced me to stand. It was rather hard task- I didn't fell my legs and I felt like collapsing every second. But I went along with Paolo and two stupid looking bandits.

We walked in silence. I felt the glare of them on my back.

"Da Vinci?" started Paolo, when about half a hour passed.

"Si?"

"Now."

I seriously considered letting him down. I still wasn't so sure about him intention. But when he punched one of the bandits on the noses and the other jumped towards him, shouting some insults, my instincts took control. I leaped at his back, knocking him out with my bounded hands.

It was pretty easy. Almost too easy.

"Free me," I demanded. He sighed a little, but did it anyway. I rubbed my aching wrists. "What now, genius?"

"Now we go further" he pointed in one direction. I squinted my eyes, trying to determine where he was trying to led us.

"Isn't it the way to the road where Riario is?" I was wary now. It might have been possible that my assumptions were right after all.

"It is. But we have to cross it to get out." He was looking at me with determination in his eyes. I prepared myself for an attack. Which never came.

Something- or someone - else did. He was even younger than Paolo. What, they wanted to throw kids at me?

"Sir!"

Now, that was absurd way to call him. Really. I nearly laughed. Luckly I managed to stop myself before I offended their extremly important feelings, which I cared deeply about... No.

"Situation?" he asked, ignoring me. It would be wise to run now. But I held still and waited. For some dumb reason I couldn't name.

"They have us surrounded."

"Good. Tell others to prepare," he ordered and, with that, the kid was gone. And it was only two of us again.

"Excuse me," I faked politeness. "What in the world is that about?"

He looked at almost sadly.

"The forest is big, but Count's people managed to encircle us. That's why we need to escape by crossing the path. You with me?"

I blinked few times. Yes, it was something that Riario would do. I guessed he planned to attack as soon as he laid his hands on me. Damn, I had to ask Paolo later why would he leave his people to death like that.

"Yes," I said and his smile became warm and honest. "But! I need to rescue my friend."

I expected him to argue. Of course I would insist, but we may or may not loose time.

"We may try." What a pleasant surprise!

Too many good happened - now came the harder part. In which we were supposed to find Zo, help him out and then escape. Without Riairo or any of his man noticing. And they were wary not to let anybody flee.

Luckily the first problem solved itself. I spotted Zoro tied to a tree - really, what about creativeness?- as soon as we reached the track. Good we were going slowly and hiding. Otherwise the Count himself could see us.

Why did he have to stand so close to Zo? Couldn't he wait on the other side of forest? To prevent me from trouble?

"Are you sure about that?" hissed Paolo quietly.

"Very."

Was that bad that part of me wanted to see Riario reaction to me jumping out of the forest and shouting "here I am"?

I did not do that. But a plan had began to form in my head already.


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, I want to thank you all for your comments 3 I'm so glad you like it! **

**... I'm still damaged after watching the finale so the part is weird. **

**Anyway, enjoy! **

* * *

"You are joking, right?" Paolo was looking at me as I had lost my mind. I had just told him what I wanted to do and his eagerness to work with me vanished. Typical. It was a pity Zo wasn't there, he would complain a little but listen anyway.

"Sure I don't. You just do what I tell you, when I tell you," I mocked him with his own words.

He stood still for awhile, probably trying to find a good way to get out and run away from me. Poor thing.

"... All right." He suprised me again. His patience was really big or he was just desperate enough. "I can do it."

I nodded to him to get to work. After all it wasn't a picnic and we were supposed to hide without announcing ourselves with noisy behaviour. Well, he wasn't. I was a diffrent story.

I watched as he hid in some bushes and couldn't help a smile. He was really good at it. I knew where he was yet I didn't see him. Now I had to provide distraction so he could move freely and help

I stepped a little further in the forest and sighed. Then I shouted like I wanted to throw out my lungs.

There are different kinds of yelling. You can do it when you are angry or scared. Sometimes their role is to make your enemies shiver with fear but more often they are just sensless.

I was rather proud of mine. It was loud- probably the whole forest could hear it- filled with suprise and pain. The kind that could say that you had just broken your leg or had done something as nasty and unpleasent. I knew it was very convincing, I had tried that years ago and Nico had almost died by a heart attack.

"Oh fuck!" I added like a truly suffering person. Then I jumped in the nearest hiding spot but kept howling now and then.

Yes, I was a really good actor!

I was almost completly sure that Riario would recognize my voice straight away and couldn't be able to ignore the shouts. It didn't matter if he though my throat just got slashed or I stumbled over something. Hell, it would still be good even if he didn't believe in that little act of mine. He would have to check it up anyway because if I was screaming that meant I was there. And when he would go near, I would... Find a way to pass him?

Well, the plan wasn't finished. Yet.

I had to lie without a single move for some time. The ground was cold and I felt like jumping up. But I only held my breath, especially because I finally heard the rustle of leaves. Somebody was going in my direction. Judging by the sounds one single person.

I made my decision quickly- I stood a chance only when I wasn't outnumbered. So I waited few seconds and then dashed out like a madman, looking around for my target.

He was not the Count, that for sure. Just an ordinary soldier. Should be easy.

I forgot about that my body was still exhausted and didn't take into consideration some other important fact. Like that I was making a lot of noise and he didn't have to be completly useless.

I planned to swiftly hit him on the back of his head so he would lose conscious. But he managed to turn to face me just in time. It was impossible to stop myself anymore so I just ran faster- and I practically crashed into him. We both fallen, me on top, so I quickly reached to pin him down to the wet ground. He hit my chest few times, preventing it from happening.

"He is here!" he yelled and I winced. Perfect. In that moment I could just lie down and give up. Of course I didn't though. It wasn't my style.

I got distracted for a second and regretted it almost at the same time- I cursed aloud after he punched my jaw. I groaned when I heard a nasty sound of my teeth gnashing. He took the chance to roll over with me and suddenly I was on the bottom. I hit my head hard on something and yelped.

I was suffering by this point but didn't let the pain took control. I didn't have time for complaining since the time was running out.

He laughed aloud like an idiot and tried to bind me with a piece of rope which was kind of funny because I didn't even register the time when he had actually taken it out. I kicked his stomach hard and sent him flying backwards. He landed on his ass, cursing mine. I quickly stood up, stealing his sword. He tried to move but I touched his neck with the blade and he wasn't so brave anymore. Instead of leaving him there I just hit him hard on his head so he blacked out.

I won. But it was already too late.

"Artista. It would be wise if you let him go."

I admit- I really jumped in suprise, almost stabbing the man lying in front of me. I even got gooseflesh and my hair stood on its end. Amazing, he was getting better at scaring me!

"Count." I tried to hide my feelings behind a mocking tone but to no avail. I didn't exactly sound brave. I was breathing hard after the fight and could barely keep myself on feet. I tried to ease my pounding heart so I focused my gaze directly on him. "You look great today."

That was a fact. He stood not very far away from me, he was all alone and I could see a triumph forming in his dark eyes. He was staring at me like owned the whole world, sadly including me. I stopped myself from snarling at him. He hadn't won yet. Probably he was close but it could still change. I could make it diffrent.

"And you look quite... Miserable." He smiled at me just a little bit, like always. His face reminded me of a predator who was getting ready to attack its defenseless victim. It was a picture worth drawing.

"Well, don't you know that life is tough? But enough about me. Where is Zo?"

I didn't give a second thought about what I was saying. I was more focused on his actions. He wasn't moving, not at all. I feared he might have been waiting for his companions so it would be easier to catch me. Maybe I would attack him if he wasn't so well rested.

"He is fine. And delighted."

Also I hadn't had a clue about his fighting skills. After all I hadn't seen him in action yet, he always had his men to do dirty work. Of course I wasn't a fool and knew he was good at combat. I could see his muscles even under the black clothes and the way he walked was telling me everything.

"Yes, I can imagine."

And he wasn't the Captain General of the Holy Roman Church without a reason. The world was corrupted and all that mattered was having relatives in good positions. But still nobody would hand him a position that high just because he had nice face. So, the question was, could I escape?

"You shouted. And yet, you are fine." He attacked me, not physically, but with words. Really? Trying to beat me with just a brain? He was really full of himself! I grinned at him.

"Brilliant observation!" I forced myself not to clap. I was still holding the sword in my hands so it could be quite painfull. "Keep it up and you might become half as good as me."

He smirked, closing his eyes for a moment. Like he was already tired with my nonsense. "Always so confident... Too confident, if you ask me. Overestimating your skills will be your downfall one day."

I felt just a little bit offended. Of course it was stupid because his opinion didn't really matter. And he had some right. And I knew it. But still, saying it out loud wasn't the nicest thing he could do.

I was getting a little bit worried to. He was acting too casually, like he had all the time in the world. He didn't jump at me, trying to capture me at spot. No, he just talked to me. It was his mistake and my chance. And he was talking to me about falling.

"I haven't asked. Nobody has." I took a few steps back, just to check his reaction. He raised his eyebrows.

"Leaving me already?" He shook his head. "Your friend will be dissapointed. And also something may happen to him if you are not with him..."

I almost gritted my teeth. They still hurt so I stopped myself.

"Trying the same trick again? You are getting old, Count," I said teasingly eventhough all I wanted was to curse him a little bit.

Oh, that litlle game of ours felt so great it was almost crazy. But an opponent that could actually prove to be a difficult one was something I hadn't experience for a while. He was a challenge and talking to him was really interesting.

"It works every time." He really believed that. According to gossip blackmail was one of his biggest weapons, he was good at it, he knew where to hit and never stopped himself from fulfilling his threats. It probably would affect me aswell. But by that time Paolo had probably helped Zo to get out and they both fled away. Or so I hoped.

"Do you really think it's enough to scare me?" I puffed up my chest. "You think that what, you will say some nasty words and I will give you everything you ask me for?"

"I will destroy all you love if you continue refusing me. Even the strongest one breaks at some point." He kept smiling, staring straight in my eyes. I found myself unable to look away. I didn't know what I felt anymore. Was it anger, fear or maybe excitment?

"You will destroy it anyway, won't you?"

Because there was no way he would leave Florence alone. Even if he stopped for a moment while I would be working with him he would continue his quest some day. Probably when I gave him all he wanted and I wouldn't be usefull anymore. He would kill me then.

"I won't." I laughed as soon as these words came out of his mouth. Really, who he thought I was? He really expected me to believe a lie that obvious? "Oh, I have almost forgotten. I know it is only a distraction, artista."

I kept my face neutral since he could be lying but my guts were already screaming in anxiety.

"What?" I asked dumbly. The level of stupidity I had shown in that moment probably gave me away. Playing an idiot was really hard.

"But a help from a bandit? Really?"

I had enough of that. I turned on my heel and started running. It was an impulse which I probably should had ignored because it was just ridiculous. I could gain nothing from getting deeper in the forest but I couldn't turn neither left or right- I would help him catch me.

And he was following, wasn't he?

He wasn't shouting, ordering me to stop. He knew I wouldn't cooperate. I did not dare to look back and see how far - or maybe close- he was, but he was undoubtedly near I could hear his footsteps, sense his breath on the back of neck or maybe I was just imagine things?

I turned around just in time to block his fist. Heck, he was fast! He took another swing and this time it collided with the left side of my head. I made a few uneasy steps aside and only then did I gain my balance back. I managed to protect myself from another attack and even tried to kick him- but he jumped back. He get closer to hit me again and this time I had almost fallen down. I even dropped my sword. Exhausted as I was I didn't stand a chance against him. I wasn't sure if I could do it if I was rested. And that was annoying. I was an excelent fighter!

I began to circle him, trying to get pass him and towards the road.

"Not going to happen, artista," he said, not letting me go. I tried to push him but he dodged it with ease. But I tried again and this time hit him directly in his chest and then in the stomach.

He gasped and I jumped toward my weapon. I managed to pick it up and I faced him.

"Tired?" I asked. Of course it was me who was exhausted but no way in hell I would cry about it.

He had a weapon too and he probably could use it. So instead of starting a fight that I could not win I actually thought about a plan. That was something I should have done from the very beggining. Not letting my tiredness beat me.

"Swords, now?" he began to reach for his and that's when I struck.

I gathered all my strength and I took a powerfull swing. I threw my weapon as it was a spear and almost laughed as Riario yelped just a little bit. He couldn't just parry it nor could he jump away. But he tried anyway. And sadly- or maybe not- it didn't hurt him at all.

I didn't stay and watched. I tried to distract him and succeed but there was no time to lose. I could freely pass him and run towards the road where Zo was. I was forcing myself to sprint eventhough my legs were already giving up. Ha! That was easy!

Just a few seconds before somebody had told me I shouldn't be so overconfident. Of course listening to a good advise was too much for me.

This time the attack was swift and quiet. I landed square on my face, the breath knocked out of my lungs. My hands were in pain too, I probably had bruised my palms. I tried to get up but suddenly there was some extra weight, pinning me down to ground. The moron had sat on me! I growled, struggled but he didn't want to disappear.

He was so nice that he even made sure I couldn't kick him or anything. That was just great!

"Why are you so heavy?" I complained aloud, trying to hide the embarrassment. How could he beat me that easily? Could I still blame the weather and my lack of rest?

He didn't say anything. He just twisted my already aching shoulders and bound them with something that felt like a rope. I bit my lips to prevent myself from squealing like some stupid squirrel chased by a dog. He forced me up on my legs.

I attacked immediately. I really didn't care about anything really. I wanted to hit him with my head and then run. Hah, that really was getting so stupid.

Not only he stepped aside, but he also couldn't stop himself from sending me back on the ground with rude kick. This time I groaned a little bit because I really started to hate the grass and all that litter.

"Please, don't trip over. You will hurt yourself," he said with fake concern as he crouched next to me. I looked at him with a smile behind which I had hidden my anger.

"Fuck you."

"Sure you're more creative than this." He helped me up and this time I didn't do anything. I just stood still, glaring at him. If I couldn't defeat him just now I had to wait for better moment. The road back to Vatican was a long one so I really had lot of time. "Shall we?"

He forced me to walk with him, heading to the track. There was that kind of uneasy silence when you wanted to say something but couldn't find the right topic. This wasn't something typical in my case. I always knew what to talk about. Riario wouldn't make me speechless! After my dead body!

"I don't have the key with me," I admitted aloud. That was the big positive in that situation. I just couldn't bring it with me to mountains, it was to easy to lose it here so I had left it back in Florence, safely hidden. Nobody would be able to find it, not even Zo or Nico. Probably the fucking Turk was an only exception.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that it was polite to start conversation about something that concerned both sides of the talk. And the Key was something we shared.

Ugh, and everybody kept telling me that I was impolite! They should just listen how Riario cutted my attempt to have a civilized chat.

"Don't worry about it. You will give it to me one day." And then he was silent. Was he real? Just how many times I had to say 'no, thank you' before he would finally understand? Was he dumb? No, he really looked like an intelligent fellow so that wasn't the case. Maybe deafness?

We spent the rest of our walk in silence. He wasn't smiling anymore nor was he making stupid comments about me. At least that.

Suddenly we were back on the trail. I blinked few times, adjusting to the light and then looked around. I cursed just a little bit (one 'Holy shit!' and Riario was looking at me like I had killed his mother or something). Zoro was still bounded to the fucking tree, keeping his eyes closed. I hoped he was just sleeping. If not, I would make their life miserable.

But I guessed they did try to make their guest comfortable. Since they didn't want him to feel all alone and sad, they got him a companion. Paolo joined him, also tied. He even sent me an offended glare. But it was him who fucked up my plan and got caught, not my fault.

I spotted eight soldiers and their small camp. Some of them had light armours. They were watching me, ready to react in case the artist did something funny. Perfect conditions to sit together, drink something and play.

"So, what now, Count?" I almost shouted to gain his attention. If I couldn't run away at that moment, I could at least examine him a little bit. It wasn't anything personal. Testing others patience was just a thrilling thing to do. He seemed to be controlling his emotions pretty well but for how long?

"Now we're heading to Vatican," Riario looked at me at me with a small smile back on his lips. "You, there. Prepare our horses. And somebody should collect Michel, he is resting in the forest."

The man he pointed at practically jumped to complete his orders. I watched this with amusement but then looked back at the prison made of a tree. Paolo was still gazing at me like he was expecting me to, I don't know, cast a spell and summon a big fireball.

... Maybe I should had been more serious.

"I'm sorry but I still have some business to finish here."

He nodded his head and that was a bad sign. Somebody grabbed my arms from behind, keeping me in place. And gods, whoever he was, he was strong like an ox! It would be even harded to break free. I raised me eyebrows. He was probably planning something that I wouldn't like.

"Right. You haven't said what are you doing here," he crossed his arms and looked straight at me," yet."

"Free them and I will talk," I promised and I really meant it. Because he wouldn't gain anything from the information about my mother or so I hoped. And Zo was my main worry in that moment. I didn't want anything bad to happen to him because of me.

"Talk or I will harm Zoroaster."

Oh, he was so nice! Like a perfect host. I almost wished he would invite us for a dinner or something so we could enjoy ourselves more. Maybe I could also move in and spend whole lifetime with him?

"So it's impasse again?" I couldn't help but think about our second meeting when I fooled him. Maybe I should do it again?

"Not this time artista," he took out his knife. It wasn't really big or anything but sharp enough to kill. Was he going to throw it at me or just make me cry in fear? "I really won't hesitate. Do you really want a prove so much?"

I was thinking intensely. If I said the truth, the whole journey would go to waste. I would be forced to go back empty-handed. So I had to make up a lie. A lie that would make him want to stay there and even aid me in the adventure. He would make a good ally if only I managed to manipulate him a little bit. Oh, that was easy.

"The map leads here. I think there will be clues," I lied, grinning with excitement.

For more than a second he was silent. Of course if he would use his head he would came to conclusion that it was, without a doubt, not true. I had told him that the key wasn't there just some time before. But he wanted the Book so much, as much as I did. I would go everywhere if there was at least small possibility that I would find it there. And so did he. He couldn't help it.

"How come?" he was almost frustrated. He wanted to believe me so much that he threw away logic. So I had won already.

"I don't know," was the easiest thing to say. If I tried to explain further, I wouldn't be as convincing. "But it's close so..."

I still could reach me goal. Still could find something about my mother. He would help me get to her and then I would find a way to get rid of him. Thinking about losing him was surprisingly pleasant. Another game had started and I was going to win that.

"Where?"

I told him. Of course not everything so he would still need my help. Being useless was the last time we needed. In the corner of my eye I could see that Zo had woken up. I blinked with one eye. He sighed soundlessly but grinned a little, relieved.

"Alright, we are heading there," he ordered his people. They exchanged glances, not very enthusiastic about it but they did not dare to say anything. "You and you will stay here. Inform the others. Attack as we planned."

They moved to prepare themselves. I focused back at Riario. Because I didn't care about the bandits. Well, maybe a little bit because being assholes didn't mean not being human.

"And I?" But truely all I really wanted was to get Zo out of here. Maybe Paolo too, but he was useless already.

"You, artista, will come with me. But," he pointed the knife at my friend and started walking towards him. "First, I have to warn you not to make anything stupid, don't I?"

For a moment I felt like the world had stopped moving. I couldn't move or do anything. He was going to hurt Zo? Even though I started to cooperate...? Such a fucker! I roared, trying to break free but the man was holding me tight. He didn't even care that he was getting kicked and punched.

I didn't shout or ordered him to stop. I didn't have to. My friend did it. "Don't you fucking touch me, you asshole!"

Zo was more angry than scared, really. His eyes shined with fury and he was looking at Riario with hate so intense that I immediately wished I had something to draw at. Paolo was watching everything silently with blank expression. Suddenly he whistle. If I hadn't been looking at him, I wouldn't have guessed it was him who did that, really. He just sounded exactly like a bird.

Girolamo stopped in front of Zo and sent me a warning look. He reached to cut him but when he almost touched my friend's cheek with the blade, a real hell started.

What in the world? Where did the group of kids come from?

Suddenly they dashed out of the trees, roaring as they were completely mad. And they looked like that, too- group of young boys, fourteen or fifteen years old, with wild eyes and some weapons. I almost wanted to get back to the bandits and ask them why would they keep so many kids in their band. Two of them attacked the Count, pushing him away from the tree. Some made a mess from the camp. One had already fallen down, slashed by sword.

I couldn't stand and watch, shocked. I bit the hand that the stupid man was holding me with and then I stepped hard on his foot. To make him more aching I also jumped up, cracking his haw with the top of my head.

It hurted as hell as I started to run towards Zo.

It was a total mess but I managed to find a way through the battle. If it could be called that way. It was so noisy! But Paolo managed to shout so loud that I heard him fine.

"Don't!" He was already helping my friend. Surprisingly he freed himself even before Zo. Last time I checked, Zoroaster was undoubtedly the king of those kind of things- stealing, breaking free from any bound- and now he had a competition. "Run, run!"

One look toward Riario was enough to see that the young, dirty boys weren't enought to keep him for too long. And that he wouldn't hesitate to kill a child. And that he was already heading in my direction, anger in his eyes. He focused only on me, chosing to ignore my companions completly but he was already between us. I growled to myself, frustrated- did he have some obsession or what? I turned and leaped forward to grab one of the horses.

But of course that would be to easy. Somebody knocked me over again and I tumbled down, hurting myself even further. That was flattering that the ground loved me so much but couldn't it leave me alone?

Something fell down on me, splashing the blood all over my face. I blinked and yelped a little bit. It was a corpse of some young boy. A need to vomit was suddenly back but I didn't have anything in my stomach.

"Get up!" It was Zo who pushed the body aside and helped me to stand. I looked at him and laughed with relief. I leaned on him, breathing hard. He was safe.

But wait, how in world did he make it faster than Riario?

I looked back at the tree and blinked few times. Paolo was preventing Riario from passing and getting me with a simple, short knife in his hand. Oh, he was hiding it from them all those time? The Count wasn't amused. His sword was much sharper and longer. I was positive there was no way the young bandit could win that.

But why would he want to? He could just flee away!

"Come on, Leo," Zo tried to dragged me away but I didn't let him.

"But-"

Really, leaving Paolo like that would be a bastard move. And I could be one of them but I didn't like it.

Riario attacked and the boy managed to block it. But it was close and everybody could probably see that. There could be only one winner and that would be undoubtedly Girolamo.

Suddenly Paolo looked back at us, checking where we were. And that was one the stupidest move he could make, taking his eyes of his opponent. Of course Riario used the chance. I didn't see where exactly he had cutted him, but it was something nasty. And somewhere on his head. The blow sent the boy right on the ground and I was almost sure that killed him. It looked like that.

But Paolo didn't die like he was supposed to. He suddenly jumped back on his feet, threw the knife at Riario- that was just too good not to use it for inventing a game: weapon throwing at the Count- and he missed. But he turned around and ran toward the trees on the other side of the track.

We followed him because we waited for too much and that was almost strange that we were still standing.

It had started snowing again.

"Alright?" Zo was running next to me, safe and sound. It was like we went back in time those few days. The trees were similar, the sky was the same, the forest was the same. Paolo in front of us was the only difference. Oh, and my level of tiredness was way higher but that was something I could ignore.

"Yes! You?" I would gladly chat with him a little bit but there was not time. Somebody was following us already, of that I was sure.

"I'm still angry!" he didn't sound like he was, not anymore. He probably thought it over and came to conclusion that it was for the best. But admitting this aloud wasn't something he was going to do.

I laughed a little bit.

Suddenly Paolo, who was doing such a great job before, stumbled down and fell down. Zo was the first to come next to him and helped him up. I looked back to see if somebody was behind already but it was safe for now. I heard a gasp and I turned over quickly.

There was a big, nasty cut at the left side of the boy's face. It went through his eye and I immediately knew he had lost it already. The blood was everywhere, streaming down his cheek and he was so pale.

"I don't think I'll make it." He started shaking and for a second I though he was going to cry. But he didn't. He just kept his gaze fixed at Zo like the sight kept him at ease or something. Then I spotted a stain of blood on his trousers. Was he hurt there too?

"Where can we hide?" I demanded. We couldn't stay there, in the middle of the forest. They could see us there and I wouldn't even be able to dress these wounds. For now Paolo was the only one who knew the forest. He sighed loudly, trying to calm down and pointed in some direction.

"There is a river down there... And some caves. Also, please." He took my bag out - I really didn't know where did he keep it, under his clothes?- and gave it to Zo. "There is everywhere inside."

We started walking. We couldn't run but we marched fast. Paolo was still leaning on Zo, using his strength to keep going. Zoroaster rolled his eyes at me but helped anyway.

"How far is the fucking river?" he asked after some time.

"An hour of walk," answered the boy and I cursed under my breath. Really?

"Any place closer? You're barely walking."

"No..." But then he looked around and furrowed his brow. "Maybe. I don't know. Where are we going?"

Zo stared at him like he wanted to shout at him. But he didn't. I would tell them to halt but we couldn't stop yet. Riario still could be behind us and it was getting colder and colder so sitting wouldn't be a good idea.

"You are pointing the direction," I reminded him calmly but all I wanted was to slap myself. The boy looked like fainting any moment, he might had a fever and probably didn't really know what was going on anymore. And I didn't think of that!

"Am I?"

Zo growled something that sounded like 'worse than Nico" and shouted right after that.

He tripped over and the snow did the rest of the work. He slipped and fell forward, dragging Paolo behind him. And they actually disappeared from my sight, ground swallowing them both.

I ran forward and almost didn't stop in time. There was a huge precipice there. The ground was visible but far, far away. I saw a river on the bottom and it would be good if not for the fact that falling into it in that part of the year would mean dead.

Zo was dangling on the edge, screaming, trying to find something to grab with his free hand. The other was holding on the Paolo, who was the only reason why he didn't fell yet. The boy was holding on the tree, yelling even louder, practically crying.

I wanted to jump and rescue them both but I wouldn't help by killing myself. So I had to be careful. I slowly moved toward them, towards the tree to held Zo as well. Once I gained a good position, I reached to grab his hand.

That's when the branch Paolo was holding broke with a loud crack.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for your comments~**

**I really hate this chapter, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway!**

* * *

I reached and managed to grab Paolo's wrist just in time. A second later and they would be weight of them both was pulling my down, away from the safety of the tree and toward death. I was still holding on tight but not for long. My palm was sweating and he was slowly slipping away.

"Let us go!" screamed Zo, still dangling in the air. We knew I wasn't going to pull us up. That was just impossible, especially because I was really tired and didn't have much strenght left. And he wanted to safe me.

I didn't bother to answer. I just tighten my jaws, feeling too hot despite the low temperature. Paolo was murmuring something that was probably a pray and I didn't even snorted at this.

Suddenly Zo threw my bag in my direction. He really had a good aim- it landed somewhere behind me. But he wasn't just freeing me from it's weight. He wanted to do so much more.

"No, don't-!" I probably would talk some sense into him. If I had time for that. But everything was just happening too fast and it left me without a chance to do anything.

"Sorry," he said and I saw a smile on his face. I pulled in my last attempt to save him. But it was already too late. He released his grab on Paolo's leg. The time stopped for a second. All I could see was him, falling down with his eyes closed. And suddenly I wasn't in that forest anymore.

I was in Florence. We had just managed to trick some stupid noble to buy a necklace with only looked like it was made of gold. My pocket was finally full. Zo dragged me to an inn to celebrate. We drank, flirted with some women- he got slapped across his face- and drank some more.

I was in my workshop and he appeared, dragging some dead body in. He was frowning, obviously disgusted by the smell and he told me he wouldn't do that again. But he did when I asked him next time. He complained a lot but still couldn't leave me alone.

I was on the street. We were running side to side, trying to escape from Dragonetti's men. They had seen us trying to climb the wall of some old church- for some reason they wasn't amused. I had twisted my ankle when I fell down and Zo should have left me. But he didn't. He helped me up and was practically carrying me, risking getting caught as well.

I was lost- after I had escaped from the workshop I ran like the devil was following me, not paying attention where I was going to. I sat down on the ground, angry and confused. A second later Zo was next to me, demanding me to tell him what had happened. And I did. He comforted me, reminding me that my father's opinion was really not something I should care about.

I was in a tavern with him and Nico. I saw some soldiers disturbing some stranger without a reason so I helped him. It was the Turk. Zo told me I should just forget about him and move on, that it was something bad and nasty. Nothing good could happen because of that.

He was right but I ignored him. And there I was, holding on the tree in the cold mountains and he was falling down. I was losing him just because I couldn't listen. He had never left me down, he was always there for me and I repaid him by something like that?

I didn't really know where I started shouting. But my voice was already hoarse and I probably had repeated Zoro's name- not the fake one, his real name,Tomasso- thousands of times. I couldn't see him anymore. The water had swallowed him.

No! What was I doing? Mourning him wasn't going to help anybody. I had to jump after him and find him. Be there for him.

You will survive, I thought. I won't let you die!

I was still holding Paolo so the first thing I had to do was saving the boy.

I didn't really know where I started shouting. But my voice was already hoarse and I probably had repeated Zoro's name- not the fake one, his real name,Tomasso- thousands of times. I couldn't see him anymore. The water had swallowed him.

No! What was I doing? Mourning him wasn't going to help anybody. I had to jump after him and find him. Be there for him.

I was still holding Paolo so the first thing I had to do was saving the boy. I yelled, trying to get us up, in the safety. He wasn't that heavy and I could do that. Despite the sweat. Despite the tears in my eyes.

"Come on," I yelped. I was almost at the top by that time. I still had some distance to cover but I was positive about my winning. He was half lying on the ground and the only his feet was still dangling in the air. But I couldn't do that alone. He had to help me a little bit, push himself up.

He didn't respond nor did he react in any other way. He was completly moveless and I realized he had blacked out. Maybe more.

"Paolo! Paolo, wake up!"

Of course my luck was so big that he didn't. He was losing too much blood or maybe it was the first time he was in a situation like that. It wasn't a common thing for me too but I was always prepared. For everything. If I was the one that blacked out we would all be dead in seconds. I tried to focus on everything different than the fact that he was slipping more and more.

That's when my foot was stepped on something wet and slippery.

A piece of ice or just wet ground, I didn't know and didn't really have time to think about it. I tried to regain my balance as fast I could but it didn't really work. Suddenly I was on the ground, rolling over, almost falling down from the edge. I managed to grab some root so I stopped just in time.

But of course I dropped Paolo. And he didn't make it.

I screamed again and almost let go to join him. Maybe my father was right after all? All my talents didn't matter- I couldn't do anything, couldn't save anybody.

I almost wanted to allow my body to fall down too. Giving up would be so easy! But I couldn't. That wasn't who I was- I just couldn't stop fighting.

I almost wanted to allow my body to fall down too. Giving up would be so easy! But I couldn't. That wasn't who I was- I just couldn't stop fighting. So I gathered the strength I didn't have anymore and pushed myself up. I practically crawled to the safe spot. I got up, trembling and looked around.

The bag has landed on some tree, up. I cursed. I needed it if I was going to continue. I hoped that Paolo put our things back inside it so I could eat something.

I put my palms on the bark and almost flinched. It was so sharp. My hands was trembling and my first attempt to climb was completely fruitless. I just fell down on my ass and was rather lucky I didn't hurt myself. I sighed. I got up and kept trying.

I lost my count and didn't know anymore how much times I landed on the hard ground. There was a lot cuts and bruised on my hands, all because of the sharpness of the bark. They were bleeding a little bit, staining the tree and my clothes.

Finally I managed to reach the bag. I tossed it and mopped my forehead from sweat. I had to go down.

Instead of reaching it with grace I just tumbled down and crashed on the ground. I moaned and sat down, trembling. I got the bag closer and looked in it. I sighed in the relief. Paolo - I felt bad at the very though of his name- not only returned our things, he also added something from him. Like an extra blanket. I put it around myself.

I wanted to hurry up. I wanted to throw everything away and ran after Zo. And I was guilty I didn't. But I understood that by killing myself I would help no one.

I saw some meat wrapped in a piece of material. I completely ignored the sudden urge to vomit and forced myself to swallow it all. I was still hungry but not as deadly as I was before. I looked at the material and decided to dress my small wounds with it.

I heard someone going toward me. The trace we left was very visible. They weren't trying to be quiet. The fallen leaves rustled under their boots and some branches cracked. I forced myself up and moved away from the noise. But I didn't really have anywhere to escape to. I was standing on the edge. Another step and I would slip.

I wanted to jump and help Zo. But as I was looking down, the chilly wind playing with my hair, I suddenly couldn't move. I just couldn't. I- Leonardo da Vinci- wasn't brave enough to do something!

"Artista."

I turned around quickly and looked straight at Riario, ignoring his two companions. He had caught up me. He still was smiling and I wanted to shout at him to stop. I wasn't really in the mood of playing our game. I didn't feel like doing it and that was probably the thing that scared me the most.

"What do you want?" I didn't bother to greet him politely. I leaned on some tree, raising my eyebrows.

"I won. You have no other choice than to come with me." He was sure because he saw a big precipice behind my back and had me surrounded from other sides. He didn't believe I would be mad enough to kill myself.

"Don't I?" I forced a small smirk on my lips. I just had to hide away the fact that I felt broken. He couldn't see that. Everybody could but not him.

"You won't jump." He was so sure that he even moved forward. I took a step back, threatening him and he halted. He was watching me suspiciously.

"You sure?" I didn't even have to try to look crazy. I was sure my eyes and expression were wild. "You won't make it in time, Count."

"Be reasonable," he snorted but he didn't move anymore. He stayed still in his spot. I was right and he knew it. And he still didn't want to let me go. He still wanted to use him, especially because I told him that it was all about the Book of Leaves. "You don't want to die."

That was a fact. I didn't. The world had so much to offer. Things to explore, taste, check, feel, see. And I still wasn't satisfied with what I had achieved. I could do so much more, I was sure.

"I prefer to die than to go with you," I lied. In fact part of my wanted to come to him and work with him because he was somebody fascinating. It really was a shame that our destiny was to be enemies. I wanted it changed, I wanted to do something to change it.

But I couldn't. Not yet. Not in that life.

"Where is Zoroaster?" he finally spotted the absence of my companion. How nice, he was so focused on me that he didn't check anything else. I wanted to slap him now because how dared he mention Zo? I couldn't really cope with my emotions anymore.

"That's not your concern," I hissed quietly, tightening my fists. It hurt but I didn't care. I deserved some pain.

"He fell down." Riario was an observant man and he could think rather quickly. I flinched. "It's not your fault, artista..."

He seemed surprised by his comment and I was too. Why would he offer me comfort? Why would he care? Maybe he was just trying to trick me? But I felt that it was something more than that. He actually wanted to calm me.

"Shut the fuck up." That was a low thing to say but I couldn't think about anything else and wanted him to change the subject.

"Blaming yourself won't make it right."

Suddenly I wanted to punch him. I even stepped forward but quickly stopped myself. He was doing it on purpose? He wanted me to go to him so he could capture me? Well, the asshole was going to be dissapointed.

"Before I go, Count, I need to tell you something." I believed I could hurt him keeping my distance, using only words. My greatest weapon. But something, maybe the look on his face, stopped me. "It was a honour."

I bowed, mockingly and quickly looked toward the river. I wasn't going to jump randomly and hope to survive. Planning it sounded like a better idea.

"Da Vinci. I can help you finding your friend." And he didn't even lie. He could but he probably wouldn't want to.

"Thank you, Girolamo."

I covered a short distance in few leaps. He ran after me, trying to catch me anyway but I was too fast. Before he could land a hand on me I jumped.

"I will follow you, Leonardo!" I heard and smiled because he finally used my name. But I couldn't focus on that little detail. After all I had better things to worry about.

It was crazy but I actually enjoyed it. I dreamed about flying for a long time and it was a little bit like it. I was falling with one arm stretched, the other holding the bag. I didn't see anything- no memories of my life- and I laughed, laughed and laughed until my voice was hoarse. The wind was playing with me, dancing with my hair.

It didn't last long. The time didn't stop and the fall lasted only for a few seconds.

I crashed into the river and the impact almost made me shout. I didn't expect it to be that painful! But I kept my mouth closed, not wanting to lose air.

The water was so cold that I couldn't move a single muscle, not even the finger. I panicked at first, but then just closed my eyes and let the stream to twist me around. It was flowing really fast, rolling my body, casting it. I wanted to yelp because it was just too much for me. I had begun to suffocate and the doubt appeared- what if I didn't calculate it well?- but I didn't.

Suddenly the water thrown me at something so hard that I finally moaned. The fallen tree was there, half in the river, half at the ground. I reached and grabbed some brand. I held it hard, because letting it go would mean death.

I didn't expect it to be that hard though- the stream was still pushing at me and it was hard to move.

But inch after inch I pulled myself away from the water and further on the tree. I realized the bag wasn't there anymore but I just clenched my teeth. It was enough that I survived, I should had been grateful.

I sat on the trunk, breathing hard. I was freezing, sure that I would get frostbite. But the ground was near. All I had to do is move to it, careful not to fall down again. I started to move forward, not caring about the water flowing down from me. I couldn't stop trembling even though that was the main reason why I was so slow.

I smiled. It didn't matter, I was going to make it.

My trust in plants was delusional and changing it quickly became my priority. Trees were deceptively beasts. They looked so stable and strong so you felt invited to climb them without worrying about anything. But it was just an act and the reality was harsh.

I heard the first crack when I was half way to the safe spot. I stopped for a second and then started to move even faster.

Crack, crack, crack.

Suddenly the trunk teared itself from the stable ground. Before I could shout or do something as senseless, I found myself in the river again. I held the tree tight and don't let it go even though it was hard. It whirled and in a moment my head was above the water and I tried my best to keep it that way. I coughed a little bit.

If it was a little bit colder, I would probably die. So I was lucky but on the other hand completely unfortunate.

I didn't really know how exactly I survived that. That was like a ride on a wild horse but not in the saddle- just holding on his stomach, hanging like that when it galloped and jumped around. I would be at taming animals because I did not let go of my grap. I probably lose consciousness at some point because I suddenly found myself on the ground.

I crawled up quickly, pushing myself away from the river. I looked at my soaked clothes and cursed. I had to take it off and dress in something dry. But I didn't have anything so it was out of question.

"Zo? Zo!" I shouted for some time but he didn't answer.

I growled, hiding my face in my palms. There was no way I could survive that. I couldn't do anything.

No, no! I had to try. I raised my head high and pushed myself forward. I could see some trees around, plants and some birds. I kept close to the river, hoping to stumble on my friend. But I didn't.

I did slip a lot but it was due to my heavy legs and the desire to just lie down and fell asleep. It was hard to keep on track when all I wanted was to give up. My mind was screaming at my body but it didn't listen. When I tumbled down the ground for the next time and almost lost all of my teeth I didn't find strength to get up. I closed my eyes, shoving my nails in the ground. I didn't cry or shout.

I was just going to die. Was it really that bad?

Suddenly the smell of the fire caught me attention. Someone was there! I was almost sure it was Zo. He got out of the water and had been doing better job than me. I actually sobbed in relief.

"Zo! I'm here!" I wanted to shout but all I could manage was a quiet whisper. I coughed. It would be stupid to die when he was so close.

I pushed myself up and moved toward the smoke, my body shaking. I regained my hope because I could find my friend, my brother. I had to stop few times but I was getting close.

When I reached the bonfire I was to exhausted to stay awake. I didn't even have the time to look at Zo. I fell down and darkness covered everything.

* * *

It was odd, I felt warm and my clothes were dry. I could hear the fire crackling and some mumbling. My body ached but I could cope with that. I must have slept long because I didn't fell that tired anymore.

"Zo!" I shouted, pushing my body up. I wanted to stand up but my legs gave up and I landed on my ass. Sitting was better than lying though so it had to be enough. I looked around panicked, hardly breathing. Where he was? He had to be there!

I spotted a man. He had dark hair and a beard but he was obviously not my friend. He was crouching in front of the fire, looking at me with disinterest. He was rather old but still fit. He even had a bow and it could be dangereous.

"He is not here," he informed and my heart snapped.

He was not there. Was he anywhere then? Was I supposed to see him again or the fate was really that cruel?

"You haven't see anybody?" I asked, trying to get up once more and failing. His lips twisted in some sort of a sad smile which disappeared in a second. He didn't move to help me or anything but I couldn't be angry at him. He saved me. Laid me next to the fire, changed my clothes. He was the only reason I was still alive.

"No, not a single body. Only you. I though you would die, you was out for two days." He shrugged, obviously not caring. He looked at me, his eyes cold and calculating. "Are you crazy or stupid?"

Suddenly I wanted to laugh. That remark was just to much like Zo. I almost punched myself for thinking about him again.

"People claim that I'm crazy. Why?" I smirked a little at him. If he wanted to offended me he would have to try a lot of harder. I felt too numb to care.

He suddenly gave me a bowl with something that looked like a soup and a wooden spoon. I thanked and practically leaped at the food. It was just too good to ignore. It was so hot that I burned my lips but it didn't matter. I was too hungry.

"Swimming in the river now? You are lucky that you can still move," he snorted. I nodded my head. I was painfully aware of that fact but commenting wasn't an option in that moment. I had my mouth full. I swallowed the last bite of the meal and prepared myself to thank him again when the beast appeared.

The forest was quiet, still. The snowflakes were falling without a single sound. So when the bushes rustled I looked at them a little bit of nervous. Seconds later a big wolf lunged on my saviour.

I immediately dropped my bowl and tried to move away. My legs let me down again and I rolled on the ground. I still could see the animal. The man didn't even tried to reach for his bow. Did he know it was the end already?

But his throat didn't get teared apart. The wolf stopped in front of him, growling lightly.

"Calm," he ordered and I blinked rapidly. The animal didn't really act friendly. It didn't bounce happily around him or act like a dog. But it listened to the man anyway. I had heard that even wild animals could be tamed but seeing that with my own eyes was a totally diffrent thing. I was watching it with fascination and it looked at me, too. "Stop staring at him. You are making him angry."

I listened without enthusiasm. But I supposed he was right. I didn't really know that much about wolves.

"That's... Remarkable. Do you live here?" I thought that nobody lived in that middle of nowhere but surprisingly I was wrong. Not only bandits but some strange guy that was living with animals. Next time I would chose a nice, warm place without a single soul to bother me. I had enough of people for a while.

"I do. And you probably have some business here, don't you?" he reached and touched the wolf's head. I though it was going to bite his palm off but no. It just sat down.

"I'm looking for Pythagoras."

I didn't know who would chose a nickname like these. It was really stupid and I felt dumb just going around and asking for him. But I guesses people liked being called oddly. For example I didn't mind when Riario used ''artista'.

A frown appeared on his face. He actually squeezed the fur on the animal's head so hard it escaped from his grab and escaped in the woods. The look on the man face suddenly became unfriendly and I almost flinched. He was piercing me with his angry gaze.

"And why would you search for that bastard?"

Just great, it looked like they were enemies. And now I could get killed by a person that rescued me. I had to calm him down like he calmed down the wild wolf. The image of its sharp teeth haunted me.

"A friend had ordered me to find him."

Calling the Turk friend was too much but I didn't feel like explaining anything. And it was just too complicated to capture it in one word. I felt hatred toward that man since he started it all but also needed him to move on.

"Why?" he got up and reached, probably for his weapon. Really, ending like that would be just pathetic.

"Do you hate him?" He nodded but his face didn't soothe. "That's great! I'm supposed to kill him."

Of course I wasn't going to, I didn't even know that man, but I wanted to give him what he wanted.

For a second I though it wasn't going to work. He was still, looking at me coldly. And then he laughed, loud and long until there were tears in his eyes. I waited confused by his behaviour. He really was crazy, maybe even crazier than me.

"You? Kill him? You will be lucky if you survive!" he shouted and I felt like covering my ears. "You don't even have a weapon, boy!"

No stranger had called me like that for ages so I raised my eyebrows a little bit. But I didn't argue. Who knew what he was able to do!

"Is he really that bad?" The more I could get out of him, the better. All information could be useful.

"Yes, he is. He is a ghost haunting that mountains. He steals people's souls," he said with such a belief in his voice that I almost couldn't keep my face calm.

People belief in things was dreadful. But also hilarious, especially when a man built like an ox was pissing in his pants because of some ghost. I wanted to laugh. So probably would but he wasn't there.

"I want to face him!" I shouted with a faked enthusiasm. "Can you borrow me some weapon?"

I was desperate to get as much help as possible. Not to face some ghost- but to have a way to protect myself from real things. Like the wolf which was peeking, lying under some bush.

He gave me some sword- I really had to keep that one, without losing it again- and pointed the direction I should head to. As I could stand and even walked, I headed there.

Part of me wanted to stay near the water and search for Zo. But the animal was still following me and I was unsure if it was going to attack me.

* * *

I was walking for hours. The world had been covered in a snow. My head was spinning and I didn't even know if I was going in the right direction anymore. All I knew that I was moving very slowly, almost not at all. I didn't feel like I slept for two days- rather than I hadn't rested at all.

When I heard some distant talking I almost screamed in frustration. Not again! It was probably Riario, again. I really was going crazy because of him. I tossed myself on the ground, hiding under a bush. That was becoming boring.

"I don't think he survived that. Nobody could." Some soldiers, as I expected. Riario really was desperate.

"I don't care about your point of view," I heard Girolamo's voice. Well, that was unexpected. I pushed myself even lower and closed my eyes. I was fighting with the urge to just stand up and beg him to get me out of there. "He did. Something like that wouldn't kill him."

"You are not being reasonable, sir-"

Whoever he was, he was clearly stupid or very brave. One did not say something like that to the Count.

"Tell me, are you questioning my words?"

They halted. Of course they would have an argument right in front of my hiding spot. I tried my best not to breathe and not to shake too much.

"No, I'm not. But-"

"Sir!" somebody new appeared. "We found some old man. He claimed to have seen da Vinci!"

I cursed mentally. I knew that a men with a wolf and a beard couldn't be trusted.

"Sir!" somebody new appeared. "We found an old man. He claimed to have seen da Vinci!"

I cursed mentally. I knew that a men with a wolf and a beard couldn't be trusted. He saved me, yes, but it didn't change anything.

"Where is he?" I could picture a small smile of triumph on Riario's lips.

The soldier gave the exact directions that I got. There was some rustling, some orders and then silence. After some time I got up and looked around. I was alone. But that didn't change anything because I had to change the direction I was heading.

I turned right and walked forward, hoping I wouldn't bump into them. The snow was becoming heavier and heavier. And each step I took meant another contact with it. Every time my boots met with the ground there was a loud noise.

Creak creak creak.

They probably were far away so... Damn with all attempts to move soundless! I just walked normally, pulling my hood deeper and deeper on my forehead, trying to protect my face from the chilly wind.

Of course it didn't really work. I was getting colder and colder. And, though I wouldn't admit it aloud, scared. The though of freezing to death alone drove me to panic, almost insanity.

I was slowly losing my touch. There was nothing there to use to my defence, not a chance to build anything. My bag was somewhere in the bottom of a frozen river. Really, losing it was so stupid but not as much as losing my friend. Who knew where Zo was? Maybe he wasn't anywhere anymore and that would be my fault, my fault, my fault. I couldn't bear that though. I kept reminding myself the face he made when he let go.

I tried desperately to force myself to push forward- but my legs were already trembling and I was suffocating. I needed air so much yet I just couldn't breath. The cold air made me shiver despite warm clothes that I had been wearing.

I know that the trace I was leaving couldn't be more visible but I didn't even try to cover it up. It was hopeless and I would only lose energy. There was no way to walk on that fucking snow without leaving footprints in it.

He was following. I know he was- he told me he would and he kept his words. He'd lie to others, but not to me.

I was the Sun and he... He was the Moon. And it was night, dark, his time. Riario was going to catch me soon and there was absolutly nothing I could do to stop him. He knew that, I knew. We both knew.

So now it was a race of some kind. Because he could capture my alive or stumble over my dead body. What would be better? Should I just turn back and shout, hoping that he will hear me and he will be fast enough to... To rescue me?

The image of warm fire, extra clothes, maybe some food and a horse that would spare me from wandering on foot was tempting. Of course there would be consequences- once he captured me, he would never let me go. But I could rest... Sleep. Stop worrying about the cold.

The reality, as always, was far more cruel. I fell down suddenly, stumbling over something that I could not see. I rolled down a little bit, stopping when my back met a tree. I hissed from the pain of that contact and tried to stand up.

I couldn't.

Just couldn't. I had no strenght left and even the will of surviving was leaving me.

I closed my eyes, embracing a numb feeling of not caring anymore. I wasn't even scared- just tired. The last thing I remembered before I lost my consciousness was some distant shouts.


End file.
